Umbrella



- May '14, 1940. RONKlN 2,200,897

UMBRELLA Filed Oct. 14, 1959 Patented May 14, 1940 PATENT OFFICE IUMBRELLA Nathan Ronkin, Elizabeth, N. J.

Application October 14,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in umbrellas and parasols, andmore particularly to the tips which are sewed upon the peripheral edgeof the umbrella fabric for the purpose of retaining the free ends of theumbrella ribs.

The present invention proceeds upon the principle of the provision ofumbrella rib tips which may be secured by sewing to the circumferentialedge of an umbrella fabric expeditiously by means 1 of a conventionalbutton sewing machine, the attachment of which is executed withtightness and stability in order to provide a sufficiently rigidanchoring medium for the umbrella ribs which are inserted into such tipsupon the assembly of the umbrella. Thereby complicated sewing operationsrequiring special machines which are useful only for the sewing ofumbrella tips and which consequently are costly and require specialoperating experience, are unnecessary. According to the presentinvention, the rib tips are provided with a pair of spaced holes havinga. displacement corresponding to that normally encountered in the holesin buttons which may be sewn, and the needle of a conventional buttonsewing machine is oscillated to and fro to pierce these holes and totightly attach the tips to the umbrella fabric. In addition, the tip isprovided with flattened faces in order to render the attachment of thetip to the umbrella fabric stable both in the course of the sewingoperation as well as in the course of the use of the umbrella. Thereby,a neat and finished appearance of the sewing stitches incidental to theattachment of the rib tips to the umbrella fabric is obtained and inaddition, no complicated sewing steps requiring the reversal of thefabric material and other complex operations incidental to theattachment of rib tips of general usage, particularly those having asingle hole, are necessary.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a rib tip,preferably of molded plastic material, such as Celluloid, Bakelite,resins, or other well known plastics, which may be manufactured in greatquantities at low cost, and which may be conditioned for sewing to anumbrella fabric with a minimum number of .manufacturing steps.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a rib tip which maybe conveniently handled by a sewing attachment for sewing machines usedin connection with sewing of buttons with the least amount of effort andoperating skill.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an umbrella havingthe rib tips for the reception of the free ends of ribs sewed to theumbrella fabric tightly and neatly without in- 1939, Serial No. 299,544

volvement of complex manufacturing steps in the course of the sewingoperations. The stitching extends smoothly along the line of the tip andthe rib therefor, and is not tangled with respect to the fabric whereatthe tip is sewn.

Other objects and purposes. will appear from the more detaileddescription of the invention following hereinafter, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a plan view of a portion of umbrella showing the mode ofattachment of the rib tips to the under-side thereof;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view along line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan View of a rib tip in accordance with the presentinvention;

Figure 4 is a front elevation of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a right end view of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a plan view showing the rib, tip in position in the sewing,machine attachment.

In Figure 1 is shown the umbrella fabric I which may be of cloth, silk,oil silk, or any other waterproof fabric having the ribs 4 extendingradially at the under-side thereof, terminating in the tips T which areattached to the marginal periphery 2 of the umbrella fabric by stitchingS extending through a pair of holes in each umbrella tip T.

As shown in Figures 3 to 5, the umbrella tip is preferably formed of amolded plastic material having a rounded portion 3 which may becylindrical or any other configuration, and which may terminate in arounded end 6. This portion protrudes beyond the edge of the umbrellafabric and may have any desired configuration to enhance the ornamentaleffect of the umbrella. Flattened faces 8 and 9 adjoin the portion 3 andextend to the other end 1 of the tip. Holes I and I I having adisplacement corresponding tothatnormally encountered in buttons extendthrough the tip in a direction normal to the plane of the faces 8 and 9.These holes receive the stitching executed by a conventional buttonsewing machine to attach the rib tip to the umbrella fabric, whichattachment is stabilized both in the course of sewing operation and inthe course of use by the planar configuration of faces 8 and 9. A holeI2 extends centrally of the rib tip from the end 'I, and is designed toreceive the free end I4 of the umbrella rib 4 (Figure 2). This holeextends at least as far as the stitching hole II.

In Figure 6 is shown the placement of the rib tip in the course of thesewing operation. The sewing machine attachment I is provided with aholding arm I8 for clamping the fabric which also cooperates with theopposed jaws I6 and I1 of the attachment to retain the tip in positionadjacent to the fabric for the sewing operation which is executed by anoscillating needle moving above the holes provided in the tip. Theoscillating needle executes a stitching of the thread in holes in and lI to attach the rib tip to the umbrella fabric as shown in Figures 1 and2 preparatory to the insertion of the rib terminals l4 in thelongitudinally extending bore l2 of the rib tip.

The attachment of the rib tips as disclosed herein results in an articleof neat appearance, without a bunching of the threads at the edge of thefabric by virtue of the passage of stitching through a single hole inthe rib tips in common use.

While I have described my invention as embodied in concrete form and asoperating in a specific manner for purposes of illustration, it shouldbe understood that I do not limit'my invention thereto, since variousmodifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which isset forth in the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. A tip for an umbrella rib comprising a rounded portion with a closedend and another. portion with flat faces on the opposite sides thereofand having an open bore for the reception of the end of an umbrella rib,and a plurality of holes extending diametrically through said tip andapproximately normal to the planes of said flat faces.

2. A tip for an umbrella rib comprising a portion formed as a surface ofrevolution with a closed end and another portion with flat faces onopposite sides thereof and having an open bore for the reception of theend of an umbrella rib, and a pair of .holes extending diametricallythrough said tip and substantially normal to the planes of said fiatfaces.

3. A tip of molded plastic material for an umbrella rib comprising arounded portion formed as a surface of revolution with a closed end andanother portion with a pair of parallel flat .faces on opposite sidesthereof and having an open bore for the reception of the end of anumbrella rib, and a pair of holes extending diametrically through saidtip, normal to the planes of said fiat faces and between the ends ofsaid tip, one of said holes piercing the rounded portion and the otherof said holes piercing said fiat faces near the inner ends thereof.

4. A tip of molded plastic material for an umbrella rib comprising acylindrical portion with a closed end and another portion With flatfaces on opposite sides thereof and having an open bore for thereception of the end of an umbrella rib and a pair of holes extendingdiametrically through said tip normal to the planes of said flat facesbetween the ends' of said tip and serving as an attachment medium bysewing of the tip to the umbrella fabric at said holes.

NATHAN RO'NKIN.

